Strike
by JD Lance
Summary: Lance has trouble cooping with life problems... he and Ilana fight and before he knows it, his entire world is upside down... Multichap, note: some Alcoholic themes and violence... lance will regret everything here, poor dude... disclaimer: i do not own Sym Bionic Titan
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, hello. this is my newest story, starting off with a more mature theme. This would happen in the future after "A New Beginning" (last episode) and focus on that you know: A)Lance wakes up at 2:00 most everynight because his father used to come home then B)Lance punches a lot of stuff out of anger, so by mistake, he could do what happens in the story below (no spoiler) C)Octus has hidden programing that kicks in unannounced. enjoy**

Ilana: _Anger is like horse pulling a carriage… despite the will of the driver, the horse has the true power to steer… it is only a matter of control… _

Ilana soundly slept alone in her bed in Sherman, Illinois. Dreams of Galaluna played through her mind. She was back in the palace, sitting on her balcony gazing at the proud city, a knock came from the door behind her, she turned around and saw lance.

He was wearing his red military combat jacket; his hair fell perfectly over his face and down his back like it always did. Why was he here? She didn't know, but she went with it.

"Hello, princess."

"Corporal" she smiled as he bent down to kiss her hand, as he stood back up, she looked into his eyes. Black like space, she could see an endless sea of black in them. Lance moved forward to lean against the railing beside her.

That smirk she loved was rubbed all over his face, confident, proud, strong… "This is quite a view you have…" he gazed off into the distance. The white washed buildings that were scattered across the lush, green landscape. Beautiful blue sky everywhere, the three moons, Geaus, Areus, and Raeus watched over them from above.

"Indeed."

Lance shifted his gaze to Ilana, her heart fluttered. "It's beautiful…" suddenly, she heard a loud thump, the two scanned the inner palace.

"probably nothing…" Lance comforted, he grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes, getting to his knees he said "Ilana, can I ask you a question?"

She was certain she knew what he was doing, "Yes, you may" The corporal pulled out a small, black box from his jacket.

_Crash! _Ilana jolted forward from her slumber, she rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was on earth… not Galaluna, none of that was real… she shifted out of her covers and went to investigate what the noise was.

Quietly opening the door to the room directly across from hers, she peered inside to see Lance sitting at his desk… shirtless… _why was he always shirtless_… she hated it because she knew the corporal acknowledged her stares.

The clock on his bedside table read 2:00, his window was open and she could feel the cool night breeze flow in. She walked further in. "Lance, what are you doing up at this hour?"

The corporal quickly turned his attention to her, he said nothing, he didn't need to. At his desk was half empty bottle of whisky and a shot glass in hand.

"Lance!" she said in a contained shout, she walked over to him and grabbed the glass bottle. The next thing she knew was a very firm grip wrapped around her wrist. Lance had grabbed ahold of her, she tried to pull away, but he was far stronger than her.

"Let go" she ordered. He didn't stay anything.

"Don't touch it." He still hadn't looked up from his shot glass. She did what he told, she set down the bottle, Lance immediately released his grip.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked infuriated. No response. "Lance…" He looked up, his eyes were bloodshot red. And still, not a word. He poured another shot, and drank it down.

"Stop, how much of this have you had?"

"That's none of your concern…"

"Um, actually it is, Lance." She looked around the room; a shattered picture frame lay on the floor, which must have been the noise.

"Look, can you just leave me alone right now…"

"Yeah, once you put down the drink." He glared at her. "I know you, you're better than this."

Silence, he put down the shot glass and stood up, "We may live in the same house, we may be from the same planet, and believe me when I say I will lay down my life for you… but you do _not_ know the real me… this is all I am, and this is the best I can do… I'm sorry." He reached for the larger bottle and drank it straight from the container.

"Lance!" Ilana grabbed hold of the drink, the achohaul spilled all over his body. Lance blindly swung the bottle backward. With great force, the bottle knocked Ilana's forhead. The drink shattered, Ilana found herself hitting the hard ground, her vision blurred.

Moving her hands to her forehead, she felt something warm; her mouth had a metallic taste. All over her fingers was fresh blood, more dripped down from her forehead. Lance's eyes burned in fury, the calm ones she'd seen in her dream were definitely gone.

Throbbing pain emitted from her forehead, every time her heart beat (which was rapid now) it caused a surge of pure pain. Fear escalated through her body, the corporal clenched his fists, standing in place. Tears poured down her cheeks, she tried to beg for him to stop, but only a whimper escaped. "l-lance…" she managed.

His blind fury suddenly lifted, as realization crept into his mind, he stared at the girl on the floor. Blood on her head and hands, fear in her eyes with tears emerging as she begged for mercy from… him. He remembered all the battles he'd fought in the Galalunian military. The enemies they faced…

The evil monsters of men he hated so much. The men that murdered innocent lives, terrorists against the king's noble people, those who killed even after their opponent begged for their life… the type of men he swore to stop, devoted his life to serving justice to … he was one of them now.

He had just raised a hand against the very girl he swore to protect, the woman that would save his planet… Ilana, who he cared for more than anything else in his entire life. And he'd just hit her in the head with a glass bottle.

"Ilana…" he said approaching her. She frantically backed away until she met the wall.

"Please…" she begged as she leaned against the white wall. He was speechless, all he did was gently reach his hands towards her face.

"I am so sorry…" he hated himself, Ilana was his only purpose left for living, and now in her eyes, he was worse than any Mutraddi could ever be. _A monster_, that's what he was. Before he could touch her, he felt two strong hands on his shoulders, the next thing he knew, he was flying backwards towards his desk.

Pain surged through his body, it hurt everywhere. He'd landed on his desk and broken it in two. Splintered wood pierced his shirtless body. Octus progressed towards him, "Octus…" he groaned, he knew what was coming… he deserved it, the robot should kill him, right here and now… but he wanted to live… to apologize to Ilana. Then he'd accept whatever fate was coming to him.

The robot placed his gigantic hand around Lance's neck and pulled him out of the rubble. A fist flew towards his gut at inhumanly possible speed, and the attacks continued multiple times. He couldn't breathe with the robot's chokehold, Lance started coughing up blood as his vision slowly blurred from lack of oxygen.

The blood in the young soldier's body boiled, and his vision darkened. He grew limp and fell unconscious, Octus loosened his grip to let him breathe, just enough to keep him alive. Something kicked in inside of Octus, a sense of Ilana being in absolute danger by a comrade… he didn't know what the fight was about, but he was programed to side with Ilana. That was his purpose.

The robot attended to the princess, who had passed out on the floor, after confirming no damage to her brain of skull. The robot cleaned her up and put her in bed; he moved on to deal with Lance. His scanners labeled him something new now: _Lance Lunis, Sherman High, age: 18, Gender: male, Race: Galalulian, Rank: corporal, Status: Threat. _

**Okay, that was a little crazy, but i was wondering what would happen if lance just lost all control. I AM NOT PROMOTING Alcohol! IT IS BAD! thanks. So if you're wondering... Lance swung the bottle when they were fighting over it, it hit Ilana in the head, and shattered. to Ilana, Lance is mad and strikes her, she gets (reasonably) scared. to Lance, he just hit the most valuable person in his life... to octus, there is a violent fight, programing kicks in to make him protect Ilana. yeah... tell me what you think, and how this compares to my other story, ****_Science Fair_**** (check that out please). other stuff will be explained further on... BYEEEEE...**


	2. The Past

**don't know how you felt about the last chapter, that's why i appriciate reviews :) so yeah, next chapter, Lance's past... dun dun dun**

Lance groaned, his eyes ached and his mouth was sore. He opened his eyes and found himself in a dark, dimly lit room; he recognized it as the basement of their house. Lance was lying on his mattress, which must have been moved from his bed upstairs.

The young corporal stood up and walked towards the staircase that lead upward to the living room. He started working out how to apologize; he was obviously still alive… Ilana probably didn't hate him all that much, or at least not beyond hope. As he was about to set foot on the first step, a light blue force field appeared from thin air.

It was an invisible wall… Lance sent his fist flying at the barrier, nothing happened… it simply rippled like the surface of water, just like prison shields at G3 when he and Ilana were taken captive by Solomon. _Octus, _this was the same energy he was made up of.

"Hey! Guys? Ilana, Octus?" he shouted out in hope someone would hear him. Not a sound… great. Maybe they left him behind, didn't even want to deal with him… left him in the basement where no one would find him, and just let him starve… but no, they needed lance to form Titan.

He reached for his wrist where his comm. device usually was, he used that to form Manus, which was one third of the armor needed for the Sym-Bionic Titan. Just to Lance's luck, there was no such device attached to him.

"That's terrific." Lance said sarcastically, he went back and sat on his mattress. Things were perfect before that night… he and Ilana had gone out to eat a few days before, and had a good time even. They'd gotten food at an old Italian restaurant where some acoustic band was playing.

Somehow, Ilana convinced him to dance with her; the band played a slow song just for them. He wanted to explain that they weren't a couple, not because he didn't like her, because he wasn't sure how to handle the sudden change. For some reason, he didn't really care.

The week before that, they went to some party with Kimmy and Newton, some jock made fun of Ilana's hair in front of her face. The jock doesn't have much hair anymore, or teeth, or undamaged bones. Somewhere before then, Ilana helped him wash his car and she sprayed him with the hose when he wasn't looking.

The two engaged in an intense water fight… it was the first time in years the corporal found himself laughing out loud. When he was around her, he'd be a happy, cheerful, and generally cool guy. The girl made him happy, something about her smile… her outgoing personality, the freckles on her face, her hair, her eyes… when she laughed he felt something. Something he'd never felt before.

It was a simple feeling, for a moment there wasn't a care in the world… nothing mattered. He wasn't a soldier anymore, and she wasn't a princess… Mutraddi didn't hunt for them, Galaluna wasn't real, neither was Earth… there was no war, no death, no society… it was just Lance and Ilana.

The feeling was warm and welcoming, all the pain that he'd been stacking up on his shoulders had disappeared, the last time he felt that way was before his father disappeared. When he was just a boy, he didn't worry… he didn't hurt.

Of course, any chance of having that feeling again was gone. Even if it was an accident, he'd hit her out of anger… even if she allowed him to continue as her bodyguard… would she ever trust him again? That bond they'd developed over the past year and a half, the state where she was comfortable enough to fall asleep on his shoulder.

All of that was gone, he'd be lucky if she could look him in the eye. And he didn't blame the girl, self-hatred, frustration… regret. That night… he'd bought the drink from a kid at school, he couldn't handle his emotions any longer. After his father's death, he was thrown into Galalunian military academy; he couldn't grieve or show any emotions a son who had just lost his dad would.

He couldn't cry, he couldn't just break down. That would ultimately be a sign of weakness and an all too perfect opportunity for Baron, a bully who'd picked on him from the start. Growing up, he was placed in the elite Manus corps under the king; he was placed there because the king, Ilana's father, believed in him.

His superiors were tougher on him than the others; he had to push himself harder to prove he was worthy. He was forced to hold back his anger, his aches for his father… he'd learned to hide his emotions, bottling them up, following orders he simply didn't agree with. He became one of the most gifted soldiers in the entire army.

That night… he couldn't contain them anymore, his loss of his father, his anger at fate for dealing him such a bad hand, his stress to preform… and now _love. _The corporal simply couldn't do it anymore, he needed an escape. Little did he know drinking that whisky was the biggest mistake of his life. He lay restless at 2:00, the time his father always came from work, and cracked open the cap.

When Ilana came in, he wasn't in the mood to interact with anyone, not even her. He was ashamed when she saw him that way, he wanted her to leave, but being in the Military so long… he couldn't help but get defensive, when he hit her, he wasn't hitting _her, _he was hitting fate, for the past he got stuck with.

After a few hours of pacing back and forth in his prison, he heard footsteps approaching the staircase that lead to the basement, moments later the door creaked open. Ilana walked in and sat down in a chair in front of him, both separated by the force field.

"Ilana…" he said softly, she had a bandage on her head, and her fingers were beat up from shattered glass. Despite her injuries, her delicate and kind presence was still there.

"Lance…" she replied.

"I am so sorry. Please believe me when I say that." The corporal said almost shaking. She studied him for a moment.

"I believe you. And I forgive you… you made a mistake, but why?" Relief washed through his body, she wasn't going to hate him forever… but her tone was what hurt… it wasn't anger, just… disappointment.

"I… don't entirely know…" He said, quite disappointed himself.

"Just explain what happened… please?"

"…okay, I got the drink from a kid a school, Calvin or something… Seifert, you met him at the promenade… he introduced me."

"Has this been going on long?" she asked with concern.

"No, that was the first time."

"And, why did you drink… that much?"

"I just…" Lance looked her in the eyes, she attentively listened. He had to at least explain why he felt he needed the alcohol, they'd known each other for years, and he was still pretty shut off from her. "Did your father ever tell you about me… or my father, Edward?"

"Yes, our fathers were good friends… he disappeared after testing the rift gate."

"Yeah… afterwards I was sent to military academy… I was an orphan, my mom died when I was pretty young." She stared at him sympathetically.

"I served in your father's army for the rest of my life, to today… never knowing if my father was dead or alive… when I was younger… I thought he was still coming back for me. He never came back."

"Lance…" she said as she started to realize that maybe there was a reason the corporal could be so grouchy and antisocial. He continued.

"In the forces… I couldn't break… I had to be strong. I was nine when I lost my dad, I cried three times over it… any more than that would get me beat up." He paused for a moment. "Your dad promoted me to the elites when I turned thirteen, I saw my first mission, I killed my first man… I lost my first teammate… Author O'derus, he wasn't even an elite, just a foot soldier... you'll never be the same after the blood of a friend is spilled over your uniform as you watched the enemy pull the trigger. I felt so helpless"

Ilana scooted forward in her seat; she turned off the force field, and got up to sit next to the boy. He didn't seem to notice, he just stared at the floor. Digging up a long and painful past which he had tried to forget.

"I couldn't grieve him, my friend… I didn't attend his funeral; I knew I'd break down… I visited his tombstone afterward, but there were others there. To this day, I still remember one of his family member's whispers… he said that I was a soldier, and I didn't care… that death was just normal for me. I almost strangled that man, he was so inconsiderate to my pain… inside I was dying too, I just couldn't show it." The soldier looked at the girl, tears fell from her eyes, she wrapped her arms around his chest. It was a while until he noticed he was crying too. He forced himself to continue.

"General Modula, a friend of our fathers'… I looked up to him, he was like a second dad" Lance signed heavily. "it was an expedition to Mutradd… we were only there to negotiate terms, some mutraddi terrorists attacked our ship… they killed thirty five of our fifty men, your father… myself and a few others, Corporal Baron Varus, Captain Jared Hobbes... they made it, Modula on the other hand, didn't, along with a handful of my comrades… and do you know why?"

Ilana sniffed, and whipped away some tears, "why?"

"…because I thought I could stop them, the attackers, I engaged my Manus armor, after the General told me not to, I took down a fraction of their forces… but they overwhelmed us, and we were forced to retreat, losing those men, good men… in the process. They wouldn't have even found us if I hadn't pressed that button… I haven't told anyone of this, me activating Manus… anyone who knew is dead anyways… I should have been hung for insubordination, I would've accepted that, I got them killed…"

"Lance…" she tried to comfort, but couldn't find anything to say.

"I've lived with that guilt, that loss, that anger… for my entire life… that night, at 2:00… I woke up, just like any night at the time my father used to come home… and I couldn't take it any more… I made a mistake, and I drank to escape… but if there's one thing I've learned… through all of this… there is no escape. I'm sorry that I hurt you, Ilana." He looked up at the girl, she was crying heavier than he was. But the fact that he would let his emotions loose was something.

He felt a huge weight drop off of his chest, he'd finally told some one, he'd finally talked about it… years of pain just evaporated, for the first time he'd been open about it. And not only that, he knew Ilana cared.

"Lance, why don't you come upstairs, I bet you're hungry." She stood up, and blew her nose on a tissue from a box on a shelf nearby.

"Starving." He smiled and followed her upstairs.

"It doesn't make what you did okay..." she scolded, still tearing up. "But it does give me a reason to help you." She smiled at him as they went to find something to eat, food always helped a bad day.

**dude, Lance sorry bro. Okay, what'd you think? First chapter was okay, i think this kinda explains lance's life story well, tell me what you think? i named Baron's last name, Hobbes first, Author's last name, and i mentioned the kid that invited the pair to "alien death hammer" in "lessions in love" seifert. Stay tuned, this ain't over, but i'd like you to comment and tell me what you think, it really helps the writing process... thanks... yeah, bye.**


	3. Chapter 3

**sorry, i got caught up in another story of mine, Stolen (if you could check that out it'd be great) but i figured i'd go ahead and post a chapter of this one before i rap up Stolen**

Ilana set a bowl of hot tomato cream soup on the table in front of Lance. "Thanks" Steam emitted from the bowl, he stuck his spoon in and took a bite. The soldier's eyes widened as the scolding hot soup burned his mouth. He quickly reached for his glass of soda, _Cocoa Cola _was it?

Anyways, the beverage was good even though it had nothing to do with Cocoa beans, thus the hope of a chocolate soft drink (like the Earth drink, _hot Cocoa_) was erased. The princess laughed as she watched the boy ease his burning tongue, she took a spoonful of soup and lightly blew on it.

"So, what did I miss? Anything happen when I was down there?" Lance asked, following Ilana's idea and blowing on the food.

"Well, we have a new history project due next week"

"I mean important things…"

"Lance, that is important, it's forty-five percent of our final grade." She took another spoonful of soup.

"…right… anything else _important_?" Lance could care less about school. "Say, where's Octus? With Kimmy I suppose?"

"I guess, he went off to run some errands… he said he'd be gone all day."

"Alright, what else is new?"

"Oh, that girl… Agnes was looking for you again…" Lance groaned and took another mouthful of food. The duo talked until they were finished, Ilana put away the dishes and Lance cleaned the table, they exited the kitchen and sat down on the couch in the living room.

"So, um…" Lance said slowly. "I'm… sorry, about before…"

"It's fine, Lance… you made a mistake."

"I hurt you… and I hope you know I am fully aware of my actions, and… I regret that night more than anything else in existence…"

"Thank you, Lance."

"Yeah… if there's anything I can do to make it up to you…" Ilana thought about his offer for a moment.

"Help me learn how to ride those… _roller blades_, we see the neighborhood kids using…" Ilana said with a smirk.

"Seriously?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, we can drive to the mall and pick up two pairs. We can learn right there on the street out front."

"I don't know, it seems dangerous…" Ilana playfully looked him in the eyes; he'd told her she couldn't have a pair a few weeks ago after seeing a little girl fall using a pair and scraping herself.

"Please?" She asked. "It'll be really fun." She said with a spark of adventure in her eyes, he gazed into her eager expression. Her smile was perfect and her freckles stood out with as the sunlight swept across her delicate face.

"Alright, let's go…" Lance said, giving in. He grabbed his keys and they headed out.

. . .

Lance walked down the aisles and grabbed several various boxes. "What are those?" Ilana asked curiously.

"Safety precautions…" He said showing off a purple and yellow helmet with matching elbow, knee, and wrist pads. They found the rollerblades in the bike and wheeled athletics section. Ilana picked a baby blue pair with black wheels; Lance chose the most inconspicuous pair possible, plain pitch black.

They checked out at the front desks and drove home.

. . .

"Okay, three… two…" Lance counted down carefully. He held Ilana's waist awkwardly on the driveway, she was fully geared up and ready to coast down the small slope. "Wait…" Lance said, keeping his grip as a car passed by.

"Okay…" the girl said eagerly.

"Three, two… wait." Lance said again, hearing the sound of an engine rolling up. He looked both ways and saw it was nothing. "Three… two" Ilana waited patiently for him to release his grip and let her roll down the driveway. "Hold on…"

"Now what?" she asked with a smirk. It was almost good to see his old, overprotective self was still there.

"Let's move forward, I don't want you gaining too much speed." Lance slowly rolled Ilana forward. Looking both ways he cautiously scanned the area. "Okay… three… two…"

"One" Ilana said taking Lance's hands off of her hips, she rolled forward down the drive and across the street. Lance tensed as she started losing balance and fell backward on her rear. The soldier ran at full throttle and rushed to Ilana.

_Oh man, this was a horrible idea, is she hurt? I never should have let her do something so reckless… _Lance thought as he approached the girl, who to his surprise was laughing. Relief flooded over the boy.

"That was fun, let's do it again!" She cheered, Lance helped her up and rolled her over the top of the drive way. After a few more runs, a few little girls came rolling down the street. Ilana watched in awe, they didn't even have anyone pushing them; they just rode down the street. Their feet at forty five degree angles, pointing in opposite directions, they pushed themselves.

"Don't you get any ideas…" Lance whispered partially joking, but truthfully he didn't want her trying to ride down anything steeper than their driveway.

"Come on Lance, that looks like so much fun…"

"It's also dangerous…" He said sternly.

"Those girls were like nine, Lance I'm seventeen…"

"They may be younger, but they're not nearly as important…"

"We can go together, and we'll only go half down the street, not into the intersection…" She asked with pleading eyes. Lance couldn't resist, and he didn't exactly want to argue with her after the situation the earlier night.

"Alright, I'll go get my pair I guess…" He said blandly, Ilana smiled.

"Thanks Lance." She chirped.

. . .

They stood at the top of the cul-de-sac, Lance looked down the road, he stood with his feet close together trying to maintain balance. "Okay, I'm ready…" Ilana said adjusting her helmet.

They both kicked off and rolled down the road, Ilana gained speed and shot down the lane. Lance kicked off to catch up; he noticed the girl's smile. It was warm and bright, carefree and hopeful. He couldn't help but stare as they coasted.

"Car up ahead…" Ilana acknowledged, Lance looked up, it was relatively far away.

"Alright let's pull over…"

"Um…" Ilana said slowly.

"What?" Lance asked concerned.

"How do you stop?" Lance's gut dropped, good question. The boy turned his feet inward and almost tripped. They were getting closer to the approaching car, Lance's instincts kicked in. He made his way to Ilana and took hold of her from behind.

He turned his blades to the side and fell; he made sure to land on his back to shield Ilana from the impact. "ow…" He groaned, Ilana got up and took her roller skates off, then she took off Lance's.

"I think we'll call it a day…" She said helping him up.

"Good idea…" He said as they walked back into the house.

**Okay, so the next few chapters are just going to be bonding between Lance and Ilana when Octus is out and about. Sorry for such a late update... anyways, tell me what you think, i'll try to update soon...**


	4. Photographs

Lance trekked upstairs to his room and tossed the rollerblades into his closet next to his old Galalunian military uniform and a box of assorted junk. The soldier curiously picked up the box and brought it over to his bed, not remembering what was in it. Placing it on his lap, he slowly opened the cardboard lid.

Searching inside, he found a few dusty pictures in an envelope from the printing section in the local supermarket. Ilana had given him the package; he'd never looked at the prints. Lance ripped open the seal and poured the photographs onto his bedspread, he picked up the first one and observed.

It was a shot of Kimmy and Newton at the Scary Mary party; he put it back into the envelope and mentally labeled it a place for _discarded items. _Next he found a picture from his concert with _Disenfranchised, _it was from the bottom of the park and he could see the band from below. His shiny red _Les Paul_ guitar standing out among his usual dark attire.

He smiled, remembering the good times the band and him had. Ian and the others were the only Earth males he'd ever connected with… sadly, as always he wasn't enough. He tucked the picture away in the envelope and looked at the next one.

A picture of Lance in his shiny, newly repaired car. Lance was in the driver's seat giving his usual, un-amused expression. The boy smiled, he was proud of that car. Next photo was one from the homecoming dance, the group was at home posing for the camera in their fine clothes. Lance quickly shoved that one into the envelope as well. That night was when he'd been rejected. Rejected by both Kristin _and_ Ilana, he had to resort to taking that odd chubby girl…

The point was that both girls turned him down, Kristin didn't even show up (well, neither did he) and Ilana was taking that pathetic excuse for a man, Jason. He didn't like Jason… _Jason was stupid._ He hated his laugh, his hair, his pathetic lack of muscle and coordination, his dress patterns, his clumsiness... and more importantly the fact that _he_ took Ilana away from _him. _

Lance pondered on his thoughts for a moment, he never really had Ilana to begin with… so she was open, and technically Ilana went to talk to Jason in the first place. Anger transferred from Jason to Ilana. _How could she do this to me? I'm sure I make it very obvious how I feel about her, with the snow globe and… _Lance remembered how much trouble he went through to get that thing, he walked all the way to the mall, found the store while avoided officials, and had to make it all the way home before dinner.

_Would I have done that for anyone else? Would I have put on that ridiculous hat and danced with someone I didn't care about? Would I risk my life countless times, comfort someone I wasn't secretly in love with… _He trailed off. _Kristin was a good girl, I liked her similarities to myself… but she was supposed to accept the offer and go to the dance with me to… _He scolded himself at his next thoughts. _To make Ilana jealous._

He wasn't angry anymore, he was just… disgusted… with himself_. I can see why Ilana wouldn't want to take me… I'm a low life scum who cares nothing but his own selfish desires. _He winced at the thought of the previous night, and all of the times he'd put her into danger for _him. _

Activating his armor at the mall, and Xeexi… she'd almost been killed because he wasn't enough of a man to hold off the creature's torture. And he didn't even want to think about how she'd almost been killed by Steel when they tried to kick start Octus in his base, on his orders… too many times had she been put in danger because of his actions.

He was a coward, a coward for resulting to the alcohol to fill the emptiness. He picked up all of the pictures and skimmed through them. Lance and Ilana at the promenade, Lance and Ilana at the limo, Lance and Ilana at her soccer game, Lance and Ilana with Tarax… or _Tashy 497_… he threw all of the pictures on the floor.

_I'm not fit to protect such a girl… I should be back on Galaluna fighting, so I can just kill. Not protect… it doesn't seem I can keep anything I try to have anyways. _He looked at the photographs on the floor and swept through them, something caught his attention, a small folded piece of notebook paper. Lance picked it up and opened it up.

It was a note.

_Lance,_

_It's been a full two years since we've landed here… and it's definitely been hard adjusting to. My heart longs to be home, and even though you don't show it… I know you feel the same. Despite the continuous hazard to my safety, the memories of you and Octus that I've made of this planet are some of the fondest in my life, and I will cherish them forever after we return home and free our people. Just in two years with you guys, besides family, I feel closer than anyone else back home, but you two have become family. Lance, I hope you know I'm extremely grateful for your loyalty… your strength which remains alive when I feel I'm too weak to continue. And I know I don't say this a lot… but you really are the _coolest _guy I've ever met._

_You've become so much to me, and I know not how much longer we'll be on this planet… but I think I'll be just fine with you here with me. At the time I am writing this, you've just left to meet with that girl, Kristin. I really hope with all of my heart that you are happy with her. I have to admit, for most of our time here I thought you had madly passionate feelings for me, but I see now that would be foolish not only would that jeopardize our cover, but that Kristin is much more to your liking considering how much you have in common. _

_The fact that we pose as brother and sister would make this highly illogical, but I can't help but ask an innocent question… do you think we could ever be… more, than just princess and protector? If you don't feel the same way, I completely understand… and even though we could never be together here on Earth, I need to know one thing… Do you love me? Like, in the way they do in _High school Heights, _like a _crush_? I know we can't be together, but I need to know. If not, please just forget I even said this and let me salvage whatever position we have as good friends. And if you've found someone else who can make you feel whole, then I won't get in your way. You deserve to be happy, with whoever you choose, you've earned that._

_-Ilana_

Lance stared at the note, he read it over several times to try and comprehend what it even meant… was it valid? If someone forged it to mess with him he'd rip their heads off. But he recognized Ilana's handwriting. Had she had feelings for him all along? She gave him the photographs three months ago, and in the note she said if he didn't feel the same way not to respond… which he hadn't. But he did, and that was the scary thing… he knew that no matter what happened, they couldn't be together. Here, or on Galaluna. It didn't matter.

He picked up the letter and brought it over to his desk, he wrote down the word _Yes _on the piece of paper, folded it into a paper airplane and headed out of his room.

. . .

Lance stood on the overhang on the second story of their house; a railed section next to the stair case was positioned in their house so you could see downstairs into the living room. He spotted the couch and heard the clicking of shoes approaching, female shoes.

The soldier smiled and threw the airplane so it glided through air until it landed right in front of the target. Lance's eyes widened as the girl he'd thrown to bent down to pick up the airplane. Because it wasn't Ilana.

Barb stood in their living room, about to open the airplane which contained Ilana's letter and Lance's response. Without hesitation, Lance jumped down from the top overview, a full fifteen foot drop. He landed on the ground on all four limbs next to Barb, casually stood up as the woman jolted back in surprise.

"Barb. You shouldn't pick up trash, that could have been anywhere. " Lance said taking the airplane and acting like nothing had happened.

"Gosh, well okay, golly those darn teenagers and their sanitation." She said, still in her normal, overly happy tone. Lance walked back upstairs and let out a deep sigh of relieve.

After tucking the paper away in his desk, he went back downstairs to find Ilana. Who he assumed opened the door for Barb, but she'd been known to let herself in multiple times. He'd have to wait until later to give Ilana the note back.

**Okay, gunna cut this story shorted than what i had originally planned because i want to start up another project soon, anyways. peace out, I'll update this soon, i know i kinda left it alone for a while.**


	5. Cola

**Super sorry for not updating! This is a pretty short update, but it's back... My main focus is on my (SBT) story, "Discovered". (check it out if you want.) there are some references to my other fics if you've read em, leave a comment if you catch anything. As always, many thanks to my loyal readers!**

It was late, Octus hadn't yet returned, so Lance was setting the table for dinner. "Hey Lance?" Ilana asked from upstairs.

"Yeah?" He asked setting down a napkin and a fork in Ilana's spot at the table.

"Do you mind if I invite Jason over for dinner? He just asked if I was doing anything, and I was wondering if he could come over?" Ilana said walking into the kitchen; she was holding the phone that he'd gotten her a while ago to check in with him. She had changed into a short yellow and blue striped tee shirt that didn't fully cover her belly. Her slim figure was exposed and she had light blue skinny jeans that showed off her fit, toned legs.

_Why did she do this to him_? "Uh, sure… I'll cook for three…" Lance said, not wanting to upset her, then moving his gaze to table setting.

"Thanks, Lance! I'll go call him." Ilana chirped, and ran off. Lance sat down on the table and held his face in his hands. She'd obviously moved on since she sent that letter, and he was still alone, as usual.

He started cooking three cheese burgers on the grill out back. Cheeseburgers were one of the few things Earthlings knew how to do right, he'd have to remember to bring the recipe back to Galaluna, everyone would love them. Heck, his dad might have even liked them.

He grinned at the thought of the melted cheese sticking to his father's bushy brown mustache, his warm, deep laugh. If only his old man could see him now, an elite soldier, a wielder of the Manus armor one of his inventions, and he had the high honor of protecting the princess of his home planet. If only he could see that.

Lance heard a car pull up, and the doorbell ring. Ilana's bare feet scurried down the stairs and opened the door. "Hi, Jason" She greeted.

"Hi, Ilana. You look great, like, better than usual… I mean, you always look great, but… um, today you… you look good. Yes… " He replied awkwardly, Lance walked back into the house and peered out of the kitchen door to see the couple at the front door. Ilana had her arms wrapped around Jason, who had grown surprisingly tall since they met. He wasn't as fit as Lance, and the soldier still was able to look down on him. But he was taller than Ilana now.

"Lance is cooking cheeseburgers; let me see if he's almost done." Ilana said running into the kitchen. Lance quickly moved towards the cupboard and made it seem like he was working. "Lance, is dinner almost ready?"

"Huh? Yeah, be five minutes." He said pulling three glass cups out. "What do you want to drink?" He asked.

"Hmm… I think I'll have some cranberry juice, if we have any…" Ilana said.

"Alright, and Jason?" Lance didn't like his new position as a waiter.

"Um, I don't know, I'll go check… be right back." Ilana said, rushing off again. Moments later she walked back in, "Do we have any _Coca-Cola _left? He'll have some of that."

"Yeah, I think so."

"Great, thanks Lance." The girl ran off again. Lance watched her as she left. Why was this so painstakingly difficult? Why was he somehow finding situations on the battlefield easier than dealing with a teenaged girl and her boyfriend?

Lance's mouth tasted bitter at the thought of Ilana with… _that._ If Lance, who was much more suitable for someone like her, couldn't be with her, he at least wanted someone superior to him to be at her side. _Ilana deserves so much better… _He thought, shaking his head and pulling out a bottle of soda from the refrigerator.

"This is my stinking soda… who does he think he is? Stealing Ilana, stealing my soft drinks… I should probably just hand over my guitar and the keys to my car…" He grumbled, walking out of the room and placing the two drinks on the coffee table. "Hey, Jason… here's your drink, Ilana, cranberry…" He said in his best, un-annoyed voice he possibly could. A voice that didn't say he was ready to strangle Jason as he took the drink and told a joke that Ilana laughed at. It wasn't even funny! Why was he doing this anyways?

"Thanks Lance, I really appreciate your hard work." Ilana smiled at him, the corporal could feel his brain exploding and his heart oozing out of his chest. That's why he did it.


End file.
